A riding lawn mower rollover pinned an elderly man under the machine down a steep ravine at a home on Wahlstrom Road in Grand Marais at 3:24 p.m. on Monday, July 30. Patrick Lee LeBlanc, 75, was apparently mowing on a hill that was steep and brushy when he got too close to the edge and went over, with the lawn tractor landing on top of him, approximately 20 feet down the ravine.
Sheriff Mark Falk told WTIP radio that LeBlanc’s grandchildren found him and made the emergency call. The children told law enforcement that their grandpa “is now stuck under the tractor. The tractor is on his legs and some of his stomach.” The children were able to tell dispatch that he was breathing and conscious, but in pain.
Neighbor Brent Erickson came to assist and the Grand Marais First Responders, Maple Hill Fire Department and Cook County Ambulance responded. By 3:39 responders had the lawn tractor off of LeBlanc, but he had to be carefully back-boarded to be taken up the steep hillside.
Sheriff Falk said LeBlanc did not appear to have suffered major injuries but was transported to Cook County North Shore Hospital to be checked out.
Falk said the man’s rescue was “a lot of great work from citizens and the First Responders and ambulance crew that showed up, because it was pretty steep. We were very, very fortunate, that they were able to get to him in a timely manner.”
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